A Secretive Companion
by joshua.burniece
Summary: After living for two years in the safety of Tommy's dam, Joel and Ellie find themselves in another survival situation when their home is destroyed by a group of elite hunters. After the explosion, they come across a 16-year old survivor named Adam. Through lots of harsh arguments, they learn to trust one another. However, Ellie discovers there's more to Adam than they anticipated.
1. Crisis

**Hey, guys! **

**I'm going back and editing all of the mistakes and rewriting things that sound choppy!**

**Thank you all for sticking with me!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Ellie's POV**

_I woke up and all I could breathe in was smoke. Next to me lie a monster. I thought I'd killed it, but that's when i saw it move. I knew this had to end now or it would all be over for me. I rolled over and noticed a shiny blade under the table booth not too far away from me. I began crawling towards it. My body ached uncontrollably. I could barely move. So close. It was right there. Just a little bit further. _

_I was stopped when I felt a boot drive into to my stomach. I felt nothing but fear and pain. I lied there like a hopeless mouse standing before a hungry cat._

_"I knew you had heart. Y'know it's okay to give up. Ain't no shame in it," the monster said. _

_I had to keep going. C'mon Ellie, you can do this. _

_I crawled inch by inch desperately towards the machete. Just a tiny bit further._

_"I guess not. Just not your style is it?"_

_I felt another boot drive into my stomach. So much pain. _

_Suddenly I felt the monster on top of me, pinning me to the ground with its claws. _

_"You can try beggin'."_

_I managed to squeeze out a couple words under its weight. "Fuck you."_

_The monster turned me onto my back a grabbed my throat._

_It craved having power over me. _

_"You think you know me? Huh? Well, let me tell you somethin'. You have no idea what I'm capable of."_

_I reached for the machete just like I did the first time this happened. It wasn't there. Shit. Shit! SHIT! Where's the fucking machete?!_

_And that's when I saw the monster draw the blade and raise it above its head. _

_I screamed, "No! No! Please don't!"_

_I saw the blade come at my head, and then it all went black._

* * *

"Get away! Get away from me! No! Help me!"

I heard the door to my room break open and I felt someone shake me.

"Ellie? Ellie wake up! C'mon wake up!"

I woke up wildly, searching for an escape from the nightmare.

I felt someone grab my shoulders. I couldn't break free.

"Don't fucking touch me!"

"Sshh. Sshh."

"No-"

"It's okay. It's me. It's me. It's me. Look. Look. It's me."

I cried, "He tried to-"

"Oh, baby girl..." He held me close. "It's okay. It's okay."

I sobbed uncontrollably. "Joel..."

"It's okay now. You're safe."

I tried to settle down. "I'm sorry. I keep having the same nightmare."

"It's alright. I'm never going to let anything happen to you, Ellie. I promise."

I smiled at his words. Joel had always been there for me, no matter what.

His calm voice had always made me feel better. He hugged me once more. "Get dressed. Let's get going."

I nodded. When he left the room I got up slowly, still a little shaken from the nightmare. I went over to my dresser and pulled out my only pair of jeans. For my top, I decided to wear my warmest hoodie over my usual red shirt. Today was Joel and I's day to go hunting for the dam's food supply. It was a fairly breezy day.

When I had had finished putting my outfit on, I slipped on my old shoes and looked in the mirror.

"Y'know, for a 16-year old girl living in this shitty world, I don't look too bad."

Satisfied with myself, I headed towards Joel and I's usual rendezvous, just outside the dam's perimeters. When I got there, Joel welcomed me with a subtle smile. "You ready to go?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"Alright c'mon kiddo." We began hiking along the river. I loved the sound of the water. It always made me feel really calm. And living in times like this, it's those kinds of feelings that you treasure the most.

When we got to the woods, I stopped to admire the view. The smell of pine and birch trees filled the air. The birds sang happy songs and the squirrels continued with their daily nut collecting. It's as if they didn't notice that the world had changed at all. To them, life is as simple as this: if everyone does their part, then we all get along just fine. However, to us, life is always jeopardized. One minute, you could be walking along the road doing nothing wrong. The next minute, you could be running for your life from a pack of clickers. Those who can't accept this life are the ones who either die or turn. Only the people who understand how the real world works will survive.

Joel once said to me, "No matter what, you keep finding something to fight for." I didn't understand it at first, but now I realize that it was the best advice he'd ever given me. If you can't motivate yourself to do anything, what's the point of living?

After hiking for an hour we finally spotted a buck. Joel pulled out his bow, but I stopped him and whispered, "Wait, Joel. Let me get this one."

He debated it. "It's a pretty far shot. You sure you got it?"

I nodded slightly. He moved aside and I readied my bow. I took one deep breathe. Slowly and steadily, I pulled back the string and aimed at the buck's heart. I took one more breathe and then...

Bullseye. A perfect shot, thank you very much. I smiled, feeling proud of my bow skills.

Joel stared in disbelief. "Wow, you're a better shot with that thing than I'll ever be." I smiled. "Y'know, Ellie, you never cease to amaze me."

"Well I learned from the best," I teased. Joel chuckled.

I headed over to the buck to retrieve my arrow. Joel followed closely behind. Lucky for me, the arrow hadn't broken. I carefully removed it from the carcass and put it back in my bag. I stared down at my prize, still very satisfied with it. Then a thought crossed my mind.

"Uhh, Joel?"

"Yeah?"

"How are we supposed to carry all of our supply?"

He looked confused at first. Then it hit him. "Ah shit, we forgot to grab a horse."

"What should we do?"

He thought about it for a moment. "Well, I could carry the buck on my shoulders. We'll head back to the dam and grab a horse. Then we'll come back out here and load our kills on it. Sound good?"

"Well, how much time do we have before the sun sets?"

"I'd say about five or six hours."

"Is that enough time?"

"Should be."

"Alright lets go." We started to head back with Joel carrying the buck on his shoulders and I carrying both of our backpacks.

We walked for awhile without any issues. Both of us were silent, just enjoying the peace that surrounded us. It was kind of nice out here. It definitely beats living in a quarantine zone.

Looking around for a bit, I started to think about life before the infection. I always loved when Joel told me stories. Stories about the world before it took a turn for the worst. My favorite story that he's ever told me is the celebration of this thing called Christmas. According to Joel, it was based around spending time with loved ones and exchanging gifts. He also told me there was this guy named Santa Claus who would ride in a magical sleigh, pulled by flying reindeer, and deliver presents to every house in the whole world. When I first heard it, I thought is was complete bullshit. And boy was I relieved when I found out that it was. I mean, think about it. A big fat guy coming into your house in the middle of the night without you knowing? It seemed kind of creepy to me. Joel said the kids especially loved the idea of Santa Claus. I guess I wasn't one of those kids.

"Joel, can you tell me another story? Y'know, about when you were young?"

He chuckled. "I've told you almost all of them though. I don't know if I have any more."

"Aw come on. There's gotta be one more. Please, Joel? Tell me a funny one."

He was silent for a moment, trying to think of one he hadn't told. "Did I tell you the one about how I got Tommy's arm broken?"

"What?! No way! Tell me!"

"Well, when we were kids, we used to go out in the woods and climb trees. It was kind of our escape from the world. It was the one thing we would look forward to during the week." He laughed softly. "We could hardly pay attention in school because it was all we could think about."

"You got that excited to climb trees?" I couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Yeah." Joel seemed embarrassed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh." A few seconds passed. "So what happened? How'd his arm get broken?"

"Well, one day when we went out to the woods, we went a little further than usual. We found this really old tree that I knew wasn't safe to climb. But Tommy was a pretty reckless kid. So, I thought it'd be funny to dare him to climb as high as he could."

A smile crossed my face. "Oh man, I totally know where this is going."

He grinned a little. "When I told him to do it, he didn't think twice about it. He started climbing and I was surprised to see that he'd gotten up about three or four branches. But, a little farther up I heard a snap and down came Tommy. He looked like a rag doll, hitting every branch he'd climbed up before he fell."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Oh my gosh that was the best story I've ever heard! How badly did he get hurt?"

Joel started laughing too. "Well I got him back to the house and we immediately rushed him to the hospital. They said he'd broken his arm and gotten a minor concussion. He was out of school for a week."

"You were such a mean brother!"

"Well you gotta mess with the little brother once in awhile, right?"

"Did you guys argue a lot?"

"Once in awhile there would be some tension. But I mean, we got along just fine most of the time. There was really only one time we got into a big fight when we were young."

"What about?"

"It was just a stupid fight. It was about-" He stopped, as if he was ordered to.

"What? What is it?"

"Well, I mean, I don't know. It was stupid."

"What was it? I won't laugh I promise!"

He sighed. "Well, we both liked the same girl in school. We actually got into a fist fight about it."

I tried so hard not to laugh, but I couldn't help it. I started laughing uncontrollably. "Are you serious?! Oh my gosh! That's hilarious! You actually got into a fist fight about a girl?!"

Now Joel was extremely embarrassed. He chuckled a little. "I thought you said you wouldn't laugh?"

I pulled myself together. "You're right, I'm sorry."

"Y'know one day you might feel that way about someone, just like I did."

"Oh yeah right, I'll believe that when I see it."

"Whatever you say kiddo." We walked on a little more. We both had smiles on our faces from the stories that had just been told.

After walking for about an hour, we reached the dam that we called home.

Joel banged on the door and a soldier appeared on the wall with a rifle in his hand. The soldier immediately recognized us. He welcomed us with a slight smile on his face.

"Hey, guys. Back so soon?"

Joel responded to the soldier. "Hey, Tommy, we need a horse to help out with the baggage."

"Yeah sure thing. Here I'll let you guys in real quick."

"Thanks, Tommy." The door opened with a screech. We waited for Tommy to come down from the wall to get us a horse. Tommy had always been really nice to me, and I respected him because of that. One time he gave me this thing that could extract water from trees, and it worked like a charm. I kept it in my bag all the time because I knew it would come in handy someday.

When Tommy got down from the wall, we followed him to the horses. Joel set the buck down on a nearby table, and Tommy came over to examine it.

"I see you guys got a good sized buck." He looked over it very carefully and when he came across the fatal wound, he stared at it in amazement. "Geez Joel, that's a clean shot you made, straight through the heart."

Joel nudged me a little. "Ellie actually shot this one. It was from a pretty good distance too."

Tommy looked over at me, "You shot this buck Ellie?"

I was embarrassed at suddenly being put on the spot. "Yeah, I did."

"You're a pretty handy with a bow."

I blushed a little. "I think I just got lucky."

He chuckled a little. "Well however you did it, thanks for getting this buck. It's gonna help out our food supply quite a bit."

"Yeah sure thing."

While we were talking, one of the workers had brought out a horse for Joel and I. The horse was beautiful and I couldn't wait to ride it.

"How's this one," the worker said.

Joel replied with a slight smile, "That'll do just fine. Thanks a lot."

"Yeah sure thing." As the worker walked off, Tommy walked up to us.

"You guys all set?"

"I think so." Thank goodness Joel replied, I was too busy admiring the horse. I'd only ridden a horse a couple times, so it was pretty special when I got the chance to.

"Alright. I'll see you guys later. Take care Joel. See ya Ellie."

Joel patted his brother on the shoulder, "Thanks Tommy."

I mounted the horse first, very eager to get back out there. Joel climbed on after me. We took one last look at the dam as we went out the doors, and then we were off.

* * *

The rabbit lied there with an arrow through its body.

Joel gave me nudge on the shoulder. "Nice shot."

I smiled in return. "Thanks, Joel. So should we head back? Its gonna get dark soon."

"How much have we got?"

I went over to the horse. "Well, we have three bucks and five rabbits total."

"That should last awhile. Grab that rabbit you just killed and lets head back."

"Okay." I quickly ran over to the dead rabbit with the horse and I carefully removed the arrow from its limp body. Joel came over as I was tying the rabbit to the saddle. "Today has been a good day."

"Yeah it has." He didn't sound as proud as I was, but I knew inside he was satisfied with our work. After spending the past three years with Joel I could read him easier than I could read a book.

We headed back to the dam knowing Tommy would be relieved to see the amount of food we had acquired. I enjoyed hunting with Joel in the woods, but I also looked forward to sleeping in the next day. Our life was relatively easy. On a normal day we would both sleep in, grab some breakfast, do some work around the dam, and then we'd go to bed. Once in a while we'd have to take out a group of bandits attacking the dam, but it has never been anything we couldn't handle.

The infected have been pretty scarce too. The only time we would ever really see them is when we were out hunting. Other than that, they'd never come within ten miles of the dam. It's almost as if they knew it was too dangerous to attack. There's only been one incident involving a runner that got into the dam. One of Tommy's good friends, Earl, had gone out for his hunting shift. Apparently he got chased down by a few runners. He was able to take them out and return back home. But sadly, he took a bite on his arm with him. Two days after he returned, he went on a rampage through the dam. It was a disaster. Tommy almost got bit too. Being the man he is, he tried to talk some sense into Earl. But that man...that thing...wasn't Earl anymore. Tommy, nearly taking a bite himself, shot Earl with his revolver that he always kept in his pocket. It was a sad day for everyone. But, as Joel once said, "Things happen, and we move one." Y'know, Joel is a really tough guy, but he really does give a lot of good advice.

We were two minutes from reaching the door to the dam. I could see the gate's outline in the distance. Then I noticed a huge cloud of smoke rising above the perimeter walls.

"Hey, Joel, is Tommy having a bonfire or something?"

He gave me a bewildered look. Joel clearly had no idea what I was talking about.

I pointed to the dam only a short distance ahead of us. "Look."

Joel glanced over to where I was pointing. A look of horror crossed his face.

He put his arm in front of me, stopping me and the horse. "That's not a bonfire."

"What is it?"

"Oh shit! Ellie get down!" He barely had time to pull me to the ground, shielding me with his body until...

BOOM!

My ears rang from the explosion. "Fuck!" I looked up and saw enormous flames consuming the dam.

Joel immediately sprang up from the ground. "Oh shit! Ellie, move your ass we gotta help Tommy and the others!"

"Right behind you!" And with that, we sprinted as fast as we could towards the inferno.


	2. Nails

**Hey, guys!**

**Here's the updated version of chapter two!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Ellie's POV**

We reached the doors of the dam in a matter of seconds after the explosion. The only thing I could hear was screaming. The sounds of men, women, and children burning alive filled the air.

"Joel, the doors are locked! How do we get inside?!"

He began slamming into the doors with all his strength. "Ellie, come on and help me!"

I rammed into the doors with my shoulder as hard as I could, matching Joel's rhythm.

We both stopped after a couple tries, realizing it was useless to try and go in through the main entrance. Joel was enraged. "Dammit! How the hell are we supposed to get inside!?"

If there weren't flames surrounding the hole in the wall where the explosion was we could've just gone in that way. I paced frantically for a few seconds, then I remembered I had a couple nail bombs in my bag from awhile ago.

"You got any nail bombs in your bag?"

"I got two. Why?"

I set my bag down and pulled out the two nail bombs I was carrying. "Put all the bombs in front of the door and we'll blow them up all at the same time. That should burst a hole through the door so we can get in."

"Ellie, I'm not sure thats such a good idea. It's too dangerous, one of us could get shredded."

"What other choice do we have?"

He gave in. We went over to the door and set all the bombs in place, being careful not to trigger them in the process. The flames were getting bigger. We were running out of time.

I readied the last bomb as I set it down. I only had a few seconds before it would explode. Joel quickly motioned for me to come to take cover with him behind a tree. I ran as fast as I could to where Joel was hiding. I was barely twenty feet from the tree. Just a few more strides and I would be safe...

BOOM!

I wasn't fast enough. As I heard the bombs go off I suddenly felt extreme pain in my right calf. I slammed into the ground, unable to catch myself.

"FUCK!" Joel sprinted to me as fast as he could. He dropped to his knees and rolled me over. Instantly he started to examine the wound.

"Shit! Ellie your legs bleedin' like crazy!"

I sat up to try and look at my leg. It was a hell of a struggle. Every movement I made shot a bolt of pain through my whole body. I caught a small glimpse of my leg. I saw five three-inch nails stuck in my right calf and blood was pouring out of the deep holes.

"Fuck! It hurts! Joel make it stop! Please!" Tears streamed down my face. It finally hit me how much pain I was in.

Joel didn't know what to do. He had our home burning in front of him and me on the ground unable to fight the searing pain.

"I've got an idea." Joel began to put his arm under my neck and his other arm under my legs. "You ready, Ellie?"

"Just fucking do it!"

I screamed in agony as he picked me up. As Joel sprinted to get me somewhere safe, I observed with lamentable eyes at my home...our home...burning in the flames. Joel carefully set me down a safe distance from the dam near a tree.

"Alright, listen Ellie, I need you to stay here for a minute. I'm gonna run inside and see if I can grab any of our remaining supplies and help anyone that's still breathing."

"Please be careful, Joel."

He nodded and ran off towards the disaster. I heard him shout one last thing at me, "Ellie, don't mess with that wound. I'll take a closer look at it later, alright?!"

I could barely look at my leg. Thick, red blood had stained my jeans and the ground around me. I attempted to remove one of the nails pierced through my leg...bad idea. One million volts of unbearable pain shot up through my body and I saw stars.

"FUCK! FUCK! FUCKING FUCK!" The tears streamed down my face and I was shaking like crazy. "JOEL! I NEED YOU!" No response...figures. "JOEL!" I started to get dizzy. My eyes felt like they were being pulled down by one ton weights. "Joel...please..."

Just before I passed out, I saw someone with a gun stumble past me. When the stranger noticed me, he stopped and looked around for a moment. When he saw that it was just me, he quickly approached me and raised his weapon. I was too weak to react.

The stranger took aim...*shot*...and then it all went black.

* * *

**Thank you so much for sticking with me, guys.**

**Peace be with you.**

**Josh**


	3. Memories of the Disaster

**Hey, guys! **

**Here's the updated version of chapter three!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Ellie's POV**

I woke up in a bed, completely unaware of where I was. It wasn't long before I realized Joel was in the room with me staring out the window.

When he'd noticed I had woken up, he spoke in a hushed tone. "How you feelin' Ellie?"

"I'm fine." Truthfully, I wasn't. My head hurt like hell from passing out, and my leg still killed from those damn nails. I sat up slowly, making sure not to hurt myself anymore than I already was. I started to lift up the bed covers to observe my injury, but Joel came over and stopped me.

"I wouldn't look if I were you."

"Why not?"

"It ain't exactly a pretty sight."

Fear overcame me after hearing those words. Me being my curious self, I had to see. I lifted up the bed covers and saw a shirt wrapped around my leg. I carefully bent my leg so I could examine the damage. With extremely slow movements, I unwrapped the shirt to reveal my wound.

"Holy shit." The gaping holes in my leg looked like they'd been formed by a shotgun. The holes were filled with fresh blood, and the skin around each of the holes was swollen. I gently ran my fingers around the holes.

"How could this much damage have been done from just a few fucking nails?"

Joel sat next to me on the bed, looking down at my leg. "Only a guy like Bill could invent something like that. The man's a genius."

"And an absolute asshole."

Joel chuckled a little at my comment, but quickly brushed it off. Some silence overcame us, but then a look crossed his face, as if remembering something important. "Ellie?"

"What?"

"How did you do it?"

"Do what?" I looked at him with a bewildered look. He just stared back at me. "Joel...what happened yesterday?"

He didn't answer for a moment, clearly searching for the right words. "What happened last night seemed almost impossible...but somehow, somebody figured out a way to burn Tommy's dam to the ground."

"What about the people? Our friends?" No answer. "What about Tommy?"

He stared down at the ground and his eyes became glossy.

"Joel...what happened?"

After a few seconds of silence, he regained his composure. He looked me straight in the eyes, and said only one word.

"Slaughtered."

"Everyone?"

He nodded slightly and lost eye contact with me. My body began to ache with sorrow.

"No...no no NO! Fuck!" I burst into tears. Joel came over and held me. I had lost everything. The closest thing I'd ever had to living a normal life was gone. Along with it, all of my friends.

I cried for a long time. Eventually, I was able to calm myself down enough to get more information. "Who did this?"

"I don't know exactly."

"What do you mean by that? Were they hunters?"

"Kinda."

"Kinda?"

"They were more intelligent than hunters. Normally hunters are just regular assholes, but these guys were different. Its almost as if they were trained killers."

Great. Just what we needed. Its not like we didn't have enough problems fighting off regular assholes. Now we had professional assholes to deal with. Just when I thought life couldn't get any worse.

"Were you able to get any of our stuff while you were in there?"

Joel shook his head, "No. I tried to sneak past the raiders but there were too many of them. Everything was up in flames too, so that didn't help either."

"Man, who the fuck were these guys?"

"I don't know, but I found something." Joel pulled out a small, shiny object.

It was pendant with an unfamiliar symbol on it. It was hard to make out what it was, but it looked like a picture of a wolf howling at the moon. I handed it back to Joel and he stood up from the bed to return to the window. Joel seemed to be done talking. However, there was still one thing that didn't make sense to me.

"Joel?"

"Hm?"

"What did you mean when you said, "How did you do it?""

He paused for a moment. "When I came back for you...you weren't alone."

"What do you mean?"

"There was man with a bullet in his head on the ground next to you."

"Really? I thought I was imagining that."

"What do you mean?"

"Just before I passed out, I saw a guy with a gun come up to me. He aimed straight at me, then I heard a gunshot and everything went black. I thought for sure he'd shot me."

"So you weren't the one that shot him?"

"No, I didn't have a gun on me."

Joel began to pace a little. "Well if you didn't shoot him, who did?"

"You didn't see anyone when you came back for me?"

"No, it was just you and him."

"What the hell? This makes no sense."

"There's only one thing that makes a little sense, but its pretty unlikely." I stared at him attentively. "Somebody saved your life."

"You think so?"

"It's the only thing that makes sense. And whoever this stranger was...he was a hell of a good shot."

All of this seemed so unbelievable to me. How was it possible that some stranger showed up at the last possible second to save my life? Maybe it was pure luck? Or maybe there was a deeper clue that Joel and I were both missing? At this point, I had absolutely no idea what to think of the situation. I guess I'm grateful that my brains weren't splattered on the grass. Still, it pissed me off to think that I didn't know how I was ever gonna find the stranger who saved me. For now, I'd just have to let it be.

"Joel, should we get moving?"

He shook his head, "No, I want you to stay here for a couple days and let your leg heal up as best it can. I'll go out everyday and try to get some food for us. I know its not comfortable here. But for now, it'll have to do. Sound good?"

No. It sounded pretty boring to me. But, I've learned to obey Joel's authority over these past years. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Alright. Get some more sleep. We should be pretty safe here for now."

I nodded my head slightly and settled back down into the bed. Truthfully, I'm a pretty adventurous girl. But I had to admit, resting in that bed felt really damn nice after what I'd been through the last few days.

Just before I fell asleep, I whispered one thing to myself.

"Whoever you are, Stranger, I'm going to find you."

And with that, I drifted off into the comforting peacefulness of my dreams.


	4. The Stranger

**Hey, guys! **

**Here's the updated version of chapter four!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Ellie's POV**

_It's been a week since the tragic events at Tommy's dam. At this point, I really don't know how I feel about it. At first, I was extremely depressed about losing everything. But thinking back on it now, maybe it was meant to be. I mean, how long would we actually have been safe there? Whatever the reasons were, the fact is that Joel and I are extremely lucky to be alive. If we'd been in there just five minutes earlier we'd have been dead along with all of our friends...or worse. God knows what those bastards do to the people they capture. I'm happy I won't be finding out anytime soon._

_This morning, Joel told me it was time to get back up on our feet again. Luckily, my leg had healed up enough to where I could walk around pretty well. Every once in awhile I have to take a break though, for obvious reasons. After lying in that bed for seven days, it was nice to start moving around again. Some people consider lying around doing nothing an absolute luxury. To me, its the closest thing to hell. I'd rather fight off a bloater than sit around doing absolutely nothing. In this world, that mindset is a huge advantage. I'm lucky to have it._

_As we walked away from our temporary settlement, I got the feeling it was the last bit of comfortable shelter we were gonna see for a long time. This didn't really bother me though. It was nice being safe for a little while, but I really cherish the moments I have with Joel when we travel together, especially when we walk through the woods. Man, I love the woods._

_To me, the woods aren't just a place where trees grow freely, and the animals roam about here and there. The woods are the little bit of beauty that's left in this world. Think about it like this. The cities were created for people, by people. Now, they're just places of death and despair. Everywhere you look, its the ruins of what people back then thought of as true beauty. I see now that material possessions don't last. Don't get me wrong, they're good for awhile and can give you temporary joy. But eventually, they turn to dust. Now look at the woods. Created by nature for everybody thats wise enough to keep it close to their heart. You see, when the woods die, they come back to life again, making it a never ending cycle. The woods are the stronghold of the Earth._

_My relationship with Joel is like the woods. Its the one thing I cherish more than anything because not even a worldwide infection can separate us. Look, we have our bad times, everyone does. But like the woods, we do whatever is necessary to fix our problems. Because of that, our relationship is unbreakable._

_That's why I love the woods._

* * *

"Hey Ellie, you comin'?"

I looked up at him, startled a little. "Sorry, I was just journaling."

"Its fine, we should get movin' though."

"Got it." I put the journal in my bag and stood up from my meditation zone. I gently placed my hand on the tree I had been leaning against and I smiled to myself. The woods gave me so much comfort, I only wish we could stay forever. But Joel was right, we had to get moving. "Hey Joel, where exactly are we going?"

He turned towards me and took a very honest tone with me. "Y'know Ellie, at this point I really don't know. We have a few options though."

"Go on."

"Well, we could return to a quarantine zone..."

"Ha! Hell no."

He chuckled a little. "I agree. Really our only other option is just to keep survivin' and livin' off the land."

I nodded slightly. "Ok. I guess we'll have to live off the "Fatta the lan'! Right, George?""

Joel raised an eyebrow at my humor. "Of mice and men?"

"Bingo! Up top." Joel awkwardly gave into my high-five.

"I forgot you liked to read a lot."

"I try to read whenever I can. I used to do it a lot more before I met Marlene."

"Yeah." Joel didn't really have much to say about Marlene. It seemed like he tried to avoid the topic as much as possible. Truthfully, he has never said what happened to her, but I think I figured it out for myself. I always just accepted the things Joel said to me on the hill that day, but I have a feeling there's more to the story than what he decided to share. Maybe one day he'll have the courage to tell me what really happened at Saint Mary's Hospital.

* * *

We'd been walking for about three hours. Luckily, it was still bright outside so we could keep moving. Honestly, I had no idea where we were. All I knew is that we'd found a river and we'd been following it ever since we left the house.

A little ways forward, Joel put his hand up, signaling to stop.

"What are you-"

"Shh." Joel, now with his hand on his revolver, scanned the area. He took a few steps forward, I followed. A couple more steps and...

"What the fuck was that?" A scream in the distance made me jump a little. I'd heard that scream before.

"Infected."

The scream rang out once more. But this time, it sounded about three times closer than it was before. "Joel, they're coming."

"I know, I know." We took a few more cautious steps forward until one more shriek came from behind us. I saw at least five infected running straight for us.

"Joel..." I said nervously. He turned around and saw what I'd been looking at.

"Ellie...run...RUN!" We immediately started sprinting as fast as we could. We only made it a little ways before my leg started to hurt again. I went from a sprint to a limp, and then to a fall right onto my knees.

"Joel!" He turned around and ran towards me, his gun at the ready. He was just about to reach me when a clicker came from his right and shoved him against a tree. The clicker was slashing and biting, desperately trying to get at his flesh. I was able to draw my gun and take down of few of the runners that had been chasing us, but it wasn't long before I ran out of ammo. Unfortunately for me, there was one more runner that I hadn't hit who was charging straight for me.

"Joel! I'm out of bullets!" He quickly threw me his 9 mm pistol in which, of course, I didn't catch. I stumbled limply over to the gun, but I didn't make it in time. The runner reached me just as I was about to grab the gun. It tackled me and pinned me against the ground. With my arm on its neck, I tried desperately to hold it back from biting me. The memories of Sam came back to me. "Get off me you son of a bitch!" I tried reaching for the gun once more, but it was just out of my reach. I also tried reaching for my knife, but I couldn't get my hand into my back pocket.

My strength was just about to give out when I heard an unfamiliar gunshot. It came from where Joel had been holding off the clicker, so I only assumed it was Joel. I quickly glanced in his direction and I noticed another figure standing near him. I couldn't make out who it was because of the damn runner still trying to tear me apart. The figure quickly rushed over to me and held two revolvers to the runners head. Without hesitation, the figure pulled both triggers and the runner's body flopped lifelessly over me. Frantically, I shoved the body off of me, still confused at what the hell just happened.

I quickly grabbed the 9 mm pistol and limped over to Joel, who had his revolver aimed at the stranger. I did the same and aimed the 9 mm right for the strangers head.

"Why the hell are you two pointing your guns at me?" He spoked in a very calm tone, but still with a tiny sense of anger in his voice.

"Who the hell do you think you are? Shootin' your guns that close to our heads? You could have killed us you son of a bitch!" Joel, on the other hand, spoke in an enraged tone, one I'd heard several times before.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fucking save both of your asses!"

"You almost blew our fucking heads off! What kind of asshole is dumb enough to fire a gun that close to someone's head?!"

Now they were screaming at each other. I still had my gun drawn, but after a couple of seconds I lowered it and got in between the two of them.

"Both of you shut the fuck up before I break my foot up in both of your asses!" That shut them up alright. They stared at me, both a little shocked at the tone I had just taken. Truthfully, I was a little shocked myself. "Both of you, lower your guns." They eyed each other one more time, but gave in to my orders. It felt good to have authority over Joel for once. I turned towards the stranger. "Now that everything has settled down a little, who the hell are you?"

"I've been following you two for the past week, making sure you guys weren't going to do anything stupid."

"Why the hell would you care what we do?" Joel, still pissed off, took the situation back under his control.

"Look, you two are the first normal people I've seen in a long time. Everybody these days is either infected or trying to kill you. I thought that if our paths crossed along the way, maybe you'd let me help you guys out."

"I think we're fine by ourselves."

"Listen, old man, I respect your confidence, I really do. But trust me, you're not gonna last too long in this area without my help. I've been here a lot longer than you two have. I know where water is and I know where its safe to stay during the night. Trust me, you need my help."

"Joel, maybe he's right." Joel turned to me. As I looked into his eyes, I was reminded of everything we'd been through together. Especially the matter of Henry and Sam. Without them, and without me saying we should trust them, we would have never gotten out of that city.

Joel sighed to himself a little, then slightly nodded. "Alright, fine. But if you try anything, I'll break every bone in your body."

He nodded, showing a little sign of fear, but still maintaining his confidence. "Its getting late. We need to get to one of my shelters before night fall. Its not too far from here. You guys up for a little jog?"

I nodded, "Alright. Let's go." The three of us started jogging to the stranger's shelter. The stranger led the way with me behind, and then Joel behind me. None of us spoke a word, still a little awkward from the argument. In the time of silence, I was able to take a better look at the guy. He looked to be a little taller than me, with dark brown, fringed hair. Everything about him seemed very confident, almost as if he was a born leader. His clothing style was very laid back, like Joel and I. He wore some old, black converse, with some dark-colored jeans, a white tee shirt, and to finish it off, a light blue hoodie. However, there was one other feature that caught my interest. He had a pretty noticeable scar across his left temple. It made me wonder, but not enough to say anything.

All in all, the guy seemed like an arrogant asshole. I didn't care what happened to him, as long as Joel and I weren't separated by death or some other bullshit this guy might've been trying to pull on us.


	5. Questions

**Hey, guys!**

**Here's the updated version of chapter five!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Ellie's POV**

"Here we are, home sweet home."

He'd brought us to an old, abandoned house. It wasn't exactly what I'd call nice, but it was a shelter nonetheless. Joel and I stepped inside, hesitating a little. All of the walls were rotted and all of the windows were cracked. In one corner, there was an old mattress with a stained pillow on top of it. Obviously this was where the asshole slept. I noticed a couch on the other side of the room that looked somewhat comfortable. I dreaded the fact that there wasn't a third place to sleep. I would rather have slept on the cold, hard floor before I would have shared a bed with that dumb ass.

Our new "friend" stood very uncomfortably in the center of the room. "I know its not much, but its all I've got."

Joel wandered around to each of the windows, checking outside to make sure we were safe.

"Relax, old man, nobody wanders around this area. We're fine." Joel breathed in deeply, showing a little bit of irritation. "There's a pond not too far from here. I'm gonna go wash up before it gets too dark. Do you guys need anything?"

I shook my head slightly. "No, thanks though..." I just realized I had no idea what this guy's name was. He started to walk out the door when the sound of my voice made him stop. "What's your name?"

He looked back at me with hazel eyes. "I'm Adam. And you are...?"

"Ellie. He's Joel." Joel was still over by the window, not saying a word.

Adam nodded slightly and gave a faint smile. "Pleasure to meet you two. Alright, I'll be back in a bit." I nodded slightly, and he walked out.

I went over to Joel who had been quiet for awhile. "Is everything alright?"

"Ellie, I don't know about this guy."

"Neither do I, but what other choice do we have? There's nowhere to go."

Joel shook his head and turned away. "I don't trust him. Somethin' about him just doesn't feel right."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. I just got a bad feelin' about this."

I paused for a moment. "Do you think he had something to do with Tommy's dam?"

"He might've. He said he'd been followin' us for awhile, but where from? He didn't just come outta nowhere."

I nodded my head again. This whole thing did seem a little weird. Adam didn't just fall out of the sky, there had to be more to his story.

Joel looked me straight in the eyes. "Listen, don't speak a word about this conversation to him. We don't know anything about him and we can't trust him right now. So let's keep everything quiet. Understood?"

"Alright." Some more time passed before Adam returned. I had been sharpening my knife, while Joel had been watching out the window. Adam walked in with a subtle smile.

"Hey, guys. Sorry I took awhile. I saw a couple fish and thought they'de be good for the morning. It took me a few tries to catch 'em."

Joel decided to finally engage in conversation. "Mind if we get some rest, Adam?"

"Sure thing. You guys can take the mattress and the couch. I'll sleep on the floor." What a relief. I thought for sure I was gonna end up having to "snuggle up" with Adam.

Joel nodded. "Thanks." He went over to the mattress and dropped like a log. At heart, Joel was as tough as nails. Physically, however, he was an old man. I was always surprised how long he could go for without resting. I went over to the couch and sat down. It finally hit me how exhausted I was. The moment my head hit the cushion, I fell asleep like a baby.

* * *

I awoke to the sound of an old door slamming open. "Ellie! Joel! Wake up! C'mon we gotta go!"

I sat up slowly, still a little bit drowsy. "What are you talking about?" Joel sat up with a start, angry that he'd been awoken from his slumber.

"We need to get out of here. It's not safe."

Joel stood up and slowly approached Adam. "Thought you said nobody came by this place?"

"I did. I know. I didn't think anyone would ever find us. But I got some bad people just outside about ten minutes from here. I saw them when I went out to get wood."

Curiosity struck me. "Who were they?"

Adam came over to me and looked at me with a hard stare. "_Bad_ people." What if they were the guys from the dam? But how could they have found us? We were miles from that place now.

Joel picked up his bag, ready in a flash as usual. "Let's get movin' then."

I stood up a bit too fast and a huge burst of pain went through my bad leg. I stumbled a little but was able to catch myself on...Adam's shoulder...

"You okay?" I instantly shot up and shook it off.

"I'm fine. Let's go." He nodded and escorted Joel and I out the door. Other than the fact that I still think Adam is an asshole, I guess I'm thankful he caught me. It probably would've hurt to hit the ground.

All of that aside, we were on the run once again. I had no idea where we were going, but at least Joel and I were together. That's all that mattered to me in this world.


	6. Secrets

**Hey, guys! **

**Here's the updated version of chapter six!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Adam's POV**

After running for about a half hour, we'd finally reached a safe distance from the intruders. We were all out of breath and breathing heavily in place.

Ellie looked over at me and spoke to me in between breaths. "So what do we do now?"

Truthfully I didn't know. I hadn't exactly planned out where we were going. "I'm not sure. But at least we're away from those assholes."

Ellie looked at me with curious green eyes. "Who were they exactly? You just said they were bad people."

"Well...let's just say we shouldn't get involved with them."

Joel was able to catch his breath and he decided to join the conversation. "How many were there?"

"Four."

"I think we could've handled that."

I shook my head. "No, they're too dangerous."

They seemed to accept that response because neither of them spoke another word about it. We walked on for about ten minutes when I noticed a rabbit just a few yards in front of me. I signaled to Joel and Ellie to stop. Carefully, I pulled out my bow and readied my arrow. Before I even had a chance to pull back the string, I saw another arrow pierce straight through the rabbit's skull. I quickly turned my head to see where the arrow had been shot from. Ellie, now at ease with her bow, had a proud smirk on her face.

"Damn Ellie, you're a hell of a good shot with that thing."

"Thanks." She went and removed the arrow from the rabbit's skull, then tied the rabbit to her bag. "If we find shelter, we can cook this. I got a few matches."

Joel looked over at me, clearly getting frustrated. "Where exactly are we going?"

I thought about it for a moment and was able to piece together a game plan. "There's an abandoned house not too far from here. If we make it there, there's a good chance we'd be able to sleep beds tonight and maybe even find some supplies."

Joel and Ellie looked at each other, pondering it for a moment. After a moment, Joel, with a sigh, nodded his head. "Alright, take us there."

We walked in silence for awhile before I tried to make conversation. If I was going to be staying with these people, I might as well get to know them. "So are you two related?"

Ellie spoke first, as usual. "No. We just look after each other."

"How long have you been together?"

"Three years."

"Just the two of you?"

She nodded. "Yeah. What about you? Have you always been by yourself?"

"Well...yeah. I stayed with a group of people for quite awhile. But then I decided one day that I'd be better off by myself."

Joel decided to join the conversation. "How long have you been survivin' out here by yourself?"

"Three months."

Ellie looked over at me curiously. "I noticed you use two guns. What's up with that?"

I looked down at my revolvers. "I don't know. I've always used two. I guess I like how they feel in my hands."

She nodded, accepting my answer. Again, we walked in silence. After about ten minutes, I could see the house in the distance. I pointed. "There it is."

We picked up the pace, all of us pretty anxious to settle in.

* * *

When we reached the front door, I took a moment to admire the place. It was still in pretty good shape. There were a few trees on either side of it, and a small porch right in front of it. Of course, the windows were cracked, and the wood was rotting. But I had to say, I was impressed with how well it held up. I walked up the steps to the door and opened it cautiously. The door made a creaking sound, which scared off a couple rats. Slowly, with a hand on one of my revolvers, I entered the house. Joel and Ellie followed closely behind.

Upon entering the house, I stood still for a moment, listening for any infected moaning. Satisfied, I gave the signal. "Alright, it's cle-"

I felt my body slam into a wall as a runner began trying to bite at my neck. I couldn't get at my guns because I had to use both of my hands to hold the runner back. "Guys help!" Joel ran over to the runner and tried to hit it in the head with a brick he had found when another runner came straight for him. He quickly pulled out his 9 mm and shot it a couple times until it went down. The shots apparently set off an alarm because another four runners came out of no where. Ellie quickly pulled out her gun and tried to take them down, Joel did the same. I was finally able to shove the runner far enough away from to give me just enough time to pull out my revolvers. I landed two bullets right into its head. Its limp body slammed to the floor instantly. I quickly joined into the fight and was able to take down another runner. Ellie had used her last shot and was running around trying to reload her gun quickly. Joel had taken down another one by smashing its face into the corner of a wall. Damn, that guy was strong.

Three left. I quickly ran over to help Ellie out but got flanked by another one of the runners. I quickly shoved it off of me and shot it twice in the head. I looked over to see that Ellie had reloaded her gun and was able to quickly turn around and shoot the runner that had been pursuing her. One last runner remained. I saw it run straight for Ellie.

I screamed, "Ellie watch out!" She turned around and was slammed down hard right into the ground. Joel sprinted to her and ripped the monster away from her. He punched it a couple times before shooting it in the head with his 9 mm. It fell to the ground with a loud thud. None of us moved. Only the sounds of our breathing broke the heavy silence.

I walked over to Ellie and held my hand out to help her up. When she grabbed my hand, her sleeve rolled back a little revealing...a bloody bite mark...

I yanked my hand back, and she fell back down to the ground. "You're infected!" I stumbled backwards tripping over a dead runner. Frantically, I got up and pulled out one of my revolvers.

Ellie begged and screamed as I aimed at her. "Adam, no! Please! You don't understand!"

Joel sprinted over to me and shoulder-shoved me into a wall. An unbearable amount of pain came over my ribs. The only word I could manage to squeeze out was, "Fuck!"

Joel grabbed me by the neck and screamed in my face. "What the hell do you think you're doin' you son of a bitch!?"

I couldn't speak. I'd never been more afraid of a person than how fearful I was of Joel. He spoke to me in a haunting tone. A tone that a child would hear in his nightmares.

He screamed, "You better start talking or ill break both of your fucking legs!"

Ellie ran over to Joel and tried to pull his arms away from me. "Joel, stop! He doesn't know!"

Joel held onto my neck very tightly for a moment more before listening to Ellie. I dropped to the ground, struggling for breath and my ribs hurting like hell. I could barely speak I was in so much pain and full of fear. "What do you mean I don't know?"

She looked over at Joel before saying what she had to say. When he nodded, she turned back to me and looked me straight in the eyes. "I'm not infected."

I slowly leaned up on the wall, unable to stand. I motioned to her fresh bite mark. "Then what the hell is that?!"

A moment of silence overtook us before she spoke in a very calm tone. "I'm immune."

Dead silence. I didn't know what to say. I just continued to stare back into Ellie's eyes and at her wound. After a moment, I finally spoke. "Bullshit."

She stared right back into my eyes. "It's true." Joel continued to stare at me as well.

I slowly got up and limped away, holding a hand to my probably-broken ribcage. Joel began wrapping up Ellie's new wound with a clean bandage. I couldn't speak to either of them.

What the hell was I getting myself into?

* * *

**Ellie's POV**

I woke up in the middle of the night, noticing that Adam was missing. Joel was still sound asleep and the house was filled with the smell of dead bodies.

I walked around, checking each of the rooms. Nothing. I started to get worried, so I decided to step outside for some fresh air. I opened the door quietly, being sure not to wake Joel. When I stepped out onto the porch, a peaceful feeling came over me. The sounds of crickets filled the air, the moon was shining bright, and I saw that there was a small pond really close to the house that I hadn't noticed earlier. I also saw Adam sitting on a bench near the pond. Quietly, I approached him.

When I reached the bench, I tried to speak to him. "Hey."

He looked over at me slightly, then turned his attention back towards the pond. I sat down next to him and noticed he was sweating a little. I tried again. "How are you?" No response. "Adam...please."

He spoke in a nervous and quiet tone. "I saw what I saw." He didn't stop staring at the lake. I noticed he'd been fussing with his hands, trying to cover up the fact that they were shaking like crazy.

"Adam. Please don't be scared of me." He wouldn't even move his eyes towards me. "I'm not gonna hurt you." He shook his head a little. "Please Adam, tell me what's going on with you?"

He slowly stood up and wandered a bit with his back turned. He glanced back at me. "I can't talk about it."

I stood up from the bench. "Talk about what?"

He turned towards me and spoke with an angry pain in his voice. "Don't ask me about it."

I walked towards him. "Ask you about what? Adam, I'm so confused. Please talk to me." I looked him straight in the eyes and noticed they were very glossy.

He shook his head once more. A single tear rolled down his cheek. He breathed deeply through his nose. He began to speak, "Please...just..." and then he quickly walked away.

I was left by the lake alone. I had no idea what that was all about. But the more I thought about it, the more I wondered. The only thing that I knew for sure was that he was definitely not as big of an asshole as I thought he was at first.

I whispered softly to myself. "Adam, please talk to me." I took one more glance out at the lake, then headed back to the house.


	7. Hatred

**Hey guys!**

**Here's the updated version of chapter seven!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Adam's POV**

_I didn't get any sleep last night. The conversation between Ellie and I left me shaken to a point where sleep was completely out of the question. I don't understand what happened. In my whole life, I had only cried about my feelings once. How is it that she was able to make me cry just by caring?_

_I don't trust Ellie. Not one bit. She's different from anyone I've ever been around. The people that I grew up with forced me to believe that sentimental feelings were unimportant. If feelings got in the way of your ability to survive, you were killed... mercilessly._

_Ellie's different. She actually cares about my feelings and what I'm thinking. I had completely forgotten about every painful memory that I had experienced before I met her. Then here she comes, caring about my feelings, and makes me remember my past. What type of asshole does that?_

_Feelings are fucking pointless. I don't care what anyone says, but there's no such thing as trust or love in this world. That's all a bunch of bullshit that some asshole made up to try and make the world a "better place." Well you know what? Fuck him! I don't give a shit about any of my feelings! They're all fake and a huge fucking waste of time!_

_Mark my words. I will NEVER...EVER...trust Ellie. I don't give a shit if she cares about me, it's all fake. There's no such thing as caring for one another in this world. So you know what Ellie? I only have one thing to say to you:_

_Fuck you._

* * *

I almost ripped my journal in half when I wrote that last line. I was enraged. I hated Ellie. I hated her for making me remember my past.

The more I thought of Ellie, the more upset I became. I rose from the tree I'd been sitting against and punched it as hard as I could with a loud grunt. Immediately realizing my mistake, I quickly pulled back and clenched my hand as it throbbed with pain. I looked down and noticed all of my knuckles were now bloodied. The tree had gotten the best of me.

"Fuck you, tree." And with that, I began to head back to the house.

I had never even gone back there last night. After I'd left Ellie, I just kept walking until I felt like I was in a completely different world away from her. It helped calm me down a little to put distance between us, but I was still extremely upset. The journaling did help get a lot of my anger out. And even though it hurt like hell, punching the tree helped a little too.

When I got back, Joel was awake and Ellie was sound asleep.

He looked over towards me and nodded his head a little. "Mornin'."

"Hey." I felt really awkward being around Joel after our "little fight," so I tried my best to avoid him. As I walked by Ellie's sleeping body, I glanced at the bloody bandage on her hand. There's no way she was immune. It was impossible and complete bullshit. She was going to turn tomorrow and Joel was dumb enough to actually believe that we were safe.

I must have been pretty loud when I walked past her because she started to shift a little. I sat down in one of the chairs just as Ellie started to sit up. Joel noticed she was awake and sat down next to her on the couch she had been sleeping on.

"Mornin'. How'd you sleep?"

She yawned before she answered. "I slept fine."

"How's your hand?"

"It's okay." She glanced down and ran her hand over the bandage. "I'll be okay."

Joel nodded and got up from the couch to go get his bag ready. Ellie shyly turned her attention my way. "Hey, Adam."

"Hi." That's all I could really manage to say without screaming at her. She didn't say anything else to me and got up from her bed. At least she didn't try to make conversation.

After Joel finished packing up his bag, he turned back to me. "What's the plan?"

I got up from the chair. "We're not totally safe here. Those guys that I saw might be following us, so we have to keep moving."

"Where to?"

"There's a town a little ways from here. It's gonna take the whole day to get there, but it'll be safe at least for a little while."

"We better get movin' then." I went to go grab my bag, only to find that Ellie had it in her hands. With the smallest hint of a smile, she held the bag out to me. I took it, feeling extremely awkward. I couldn't force myself to show any appreciation. All I could say was, "Thanks."

With a slight nod, she walked past me and headed out the door. Joel was just about to walk out the door when he turned back towards me. He looked like he wanted to say something to me, but he couldn't say it. He shook it off and headed out the door.

I thought about it for a moment, but quickly brushed it off. With one last look at the house, I headed out the door.

* * *

We walked in silence for what felt like forever. Once in awhile, Ellie would talk to Joel or point out some of the scenery she saw, but that was about it. Me on the other hand, I couldn't help but ignore both of them, especially Ellie.

It had taken us at least six hours to make it to the town, but me made it nonetheless. I was dead tired. My legs felt like they were going to fall off and my ribs started to hurt every now and then from the hit that Joel had given me.

Everywhere you looked there were cars with rotted tires and cracked windows. All of the buildings were run down and abandoned. Hopefully there was someplace we could stay without the fear of the building collapsing on us. Unfortunately, a large majority of the building's doors were chained shut, so there was no way we were getting inside them.

Joel started to lose his patience. "Adam, is there actually a place we can stay in this town?"

"There's gotta be somewhere." After searching around for a bit more, we found a drug store with doors that weren't sealed shut. "This'll do. We can stay here for tonight and get a move on in the morning."

Ellie turned toward me. "What exactly are we running from?"

"People we don't wanna deal with."

"Well who are they?"

"Don't worry about it."

She persisted. "I don't understand why you can't tell us who they are."

"I said don't worry about it." My anger started to rise.

"Adam, what's your problem? Why are you hiding so much?"

"Shut up! Just shut up!" I had lost it. She looked a little bit shaken, but she held her ground.

She stared at me with glossy eyes. "Fuck you." She turned away from me with a huff and walked into the drug store.

Joel turned toward me. "What the hell is wrong with you?" He made his way into the drug store after Ellie.

I was left to face myself. I'll admit it, Ellie's glossy green eyes hit me. I felt terrible.

With a heavy heart, I entered the drugstore.

* * *

After what had seemed like forever, Joel and Ellie had finally fallen asleep. They both had avoided even looking at me the entire time we were in the drugstore.

I couldn't sleep. I was too upset with myself to even lie down. I just sat in silence against a wall as Joel and Ellie slept soundly. I couldn't stop thinking about Ellie's glossy green eyes. To think that I had been the one that had caused them to fill with tears like that made my stomach ache.

_What's wrong with me? No, it's not me. It's Ellie. She pretends to care about me, but it's all bullshit. _

I looked over to where Ellie was sleeping. Suddenly, an awful idea came over me. For a moment, I rejected it. But the more I thought about it, the more appealing of an idea it became. I looked over at Ellie once more and finally gave into my temptation.

I_ have to end this._

I stood up and wandered over to where Ellie was sleeping. The moon was shining down on her body through a nearby window. She looked so peaceful. I sat down next to her and stared at her sleeping face. My eyes wandered down to her bandaged hand, which reminded me she was going to turn tomorrow. I froze for a moment. Then, slowly and quietly, I pulled out one of my revolvers and checked to see if it had bullets. There was one in the chamber...just the right amount.

I stood up and readied the gun. With a shaky hand, I aimed the gun at Ellie's head. My hand was moving so much that I couldn't keep the gun steady. A voice spoke to me in my head.

_Pull the trigger. You know you want to. Remember how much pain she caused you? Now make her suffer for what she did to you._

I grabbed the gun with both hands to try to steady my aim. I was just about to pull the trigger when... I remembered her eyes.

Those beautiful, glossy, green eyes. The way she looked at me. The amount of pain I had caused her.

_I _had caused her that pain.

My knees collapsed under me and I fell to the ground, sobbing silently to myself. I couldn't do it. I slid the gun as far away from me as I could, making sure it was out of sight. I took the revolver in my other pocket and did the same.

I looked down on her moon-lit face and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. With tears in my eyes and a shaky voice, I whispered to her...

"I'm sorry, Ellie. I'm so sorry."


	8. Regret

**Hey guys!**

**Here's the last chapter that I had to go back and update: chapter eight! After this, it's all new stuff!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Adam's POV**

I couldn't sleep at all last night. After almost making the worst decision of my life, it was impossible for me to rest.

The sun was just starting to rise, and neither Ellie nor Joel showed any signs of waking up any time soon. I hadn't moved from Ellie's side the entire night. Truthfully, I couldn't stop looking at her. She just looked so peaceful, like nothing had even happened between us. Meanwhile, I was drowning in guilt.

After hours of feeling regret, I decided to get out of the drug store and get some fresh air.

I stepped outside and looked around a little. The sun rising over the abandoned buildings was kind of beautiful in a sense. It helped to calm me down a little. But, in truth, nothing was going to make me forget the fact that I had almost killed Ellie.

The one thing that scared the hell out of me more than anything was that Ellie was going to wake up soon and I would be forced to see those beautiful green eyes again. The only problem was that from now on, every time I'd look into her eyes I'd be reminded of how I'd almost killed her. How I had almost made those eyes shut forever. True, I broke down last night and said I'm sorry to her in her sleep, but that wasn't going to matter. She would still wake up thinking that I hate her.

No matter what she thinks, I'm going to do everything in my power to keep her safe.

* * *

**Ellie's POV**

I woke up from a very sleep-filled night. Slowly, I stood up from my bed, making sure not to make all the blood rush to my head. I noticed Joel was getting up as well.

He spoke in a tired tone. "How you feelin'?"

"I'm fine." Honestly, I didn't know how I felt at the moment, but I knew that if I thought about it too much my hurt would all come back to me. I started making my way over to where I had set my bag down when Adam came in through the door. Our eyes met for a moment before he quickly looked away. I brushed it off and headed out the door. Joel followed behind me.

Adam stood in the doorway. "I'll be out in a minute, I just gotta grab something." The door shut, leaving Joel and I in complete silence.

I decided to break the ice. "What the hell is wrong with him?"

Joel turned towards me. "What do you mean?"

"I try so hard to get him to open up, even just a little bit, and he just bursts at me."

Joel shook his head and turned away. "He's hiding something and I don't like it."

"I don't get why he can't tell us about those guys that are following us." He was about to say something when Adam walked out.

Joel spoke up. "What's the plan?"

"Well, uhh..." Adam shifted his weight and played with his hands. "There's a city not too far from-"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I couldn't help but burst.

He looked over at me. "What?"

"Just admit it. You have no plan."

"What do you mean?"

"We keep running from place to place, but from what? It's the same fucking thing every day! We sleep and run, sleep and run, sleep and run, but why?! And where the fuck are we going?!"

"Ellie, please just..." He continued to mess with his hands. "Just hear me out for a second."

"I'm listening."

He was silent for a moment before continuing. "I don't know where we're going, but now that I think about it, there is someone that could maybe help us kill these guys that are following us."

Joel stepped in. "Who is he?"

"He's not exactly the nicest guy, but he definitely knows how to get better weapons that we could use."

Joel repeated himself. "Who is he?"

"His name's Bill."

Complete silence overcame us.

I broke the silence. "You know Bill?"

"Yeah?"

"As in the fat ass who handcuffed me to a drain pipe?"

"What?"

Joel put his hand on my shoulder. "We know Bill."

"Really? You guys know him?"

"Oh we fucking know him alright." She rolled her eyes. "How long is it going to take us to get there?"

"He lives pretty far from here. It'll be tough without a car."

I answered in a sarcastic tone. "Fun."

"I'm sorry guys, but it's the best I can do."

Joel sighed. "You sure we can't take these guys out on our own?"

"We don't stand a chance. They're trained killers with strong equipment. Recently, they managed to break into this heavily-guarded dam settlement and slaughtered everyone inside."

Joel stared at Adam, motionless. "Excuse me?"

I chimed in. "A dam settlement?"

"Yeah."

"Those are the guys that have been following us?"

"Do you know them or something?"

I looked at Joel, who was staring down at the ground. "Never mind. Let's just get moving."

Adam looked confused, but followed orders. "Okay."

I spoke quietly to Joel. "It's them."

He nodded. "I know."

"What are we going to do?"

He was silent for a moment. "For now, we have to get to Bill's. We have no choice but to trust Adam right now." I didn't trust Adam one bit, but I respected Joel enough to go along with what he said.

I nodded. "Alright. Let's get moving." With that, we set off for the long road ahead of us.


	9. Cheyenne

**Hey, guys!**

**It feels good to be back! Now, the moment that I've been so excited about: Chapter nine!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Adam's POV**

Today was one of the hottest days of the year. Every step felt like we were swimming through an ocean. I swear I had to wipe my brow every minute to keep the sweat out of my eyes. Occasionally I'd look back just to make sure they were both still behind me. Ellie would be looking down just a little, clearly trying not to make any eye contact with me, and Joel would be breathing heavily. Man, that guy had endurance for his age.

After walking for what felt like years, we reached a really dense forest. I looked back and noticed they were starting to fall behind. "We should rest. This heat is gonna kill us if we keep going."

Ellie muttered under her breathe, "I couldn't fucking agree more." I smirked a little at her sarcasm, even though I wasn't meant to hear that. We stepped into the welcoming shade of the forest and a cool breeze hit us. I heard Joel sit down on a ledge with a heavy sigh. Ellie leaned against a tree with her hand on her chest. She pulled out her water bottle and shook the crap out of it over her mouth, barely even getting a drop. She groaned and put it back in her bag.

I went over and offered her my full bottle. She hesitated for a moment then took it from my hand. In just one swig she'd chugged half of the bottle. Blushing a little, she wiped her mouth and gave it back to me. "Sorry."

I smiled a little. "It's fine."

Joel stood up, wincing a little. "This heat isn't safe, Adam. We have to stop somewhere."

"Well, we can't stay out in the open like this."

Ellie looked over at me. "What are we supposed to do?"

I thought about it for a moment, trying to come up with a plan. Suddenly, a crazy idea hit me. "Ya know, it may be a long shot, but I think I have a way of getting a car."

Ellie turned on like a light. "What? How?" Joel showed immediate interest too.

"Well, there's a decent-sized city not too far from here: Cheyenne, Wyoming to be specific. There's an old car dealership in that town. Ya know, one of those places that displays hundreds of cars in their parking lot? If we make it there, there's a good chance that at least one of those cars runs."

Joel crossed his arms, questioning my plan. "What about fuel?"

"I'm sure a nearby gas station would have a siphon."

Ellie came closer. "How far is Cheyenne from here?"

"Maybe an hour more to get there."

Joel and Ellie exchanged looks. With Ellie giving an affirming nod, Joel nodded his head. "Alright."

And with that, we grabbed our packs and set off towards the city.

* * *

After an hour of walking through the tough heat, we finally saw the city in the distance.

I pointed it out with a smile. "There it is. See? I told you it wasn't far."

Getting closer to the city, I noticed that there were thick metal walls lining all of the streets. I muttered under my breathe. "Oh shit."

Joel saw it too. He stormed over to me and shoved my shoulder. "Adam, why the hell didn't you tell us that Cheyenne is a quarantine zone?"

I was thrown back a little by Joel's insane strength, but I quickly regained my footing. "I didn't know. Can't we just go around it?"

He looked at me like I was an idiot. "Go arou-are you kidding? How the hell do you expect to go around a heavily guarded quarantine zone? If we get within a half a mile of that place we'll be shot."

My anger started to rise. "Look, Joel, I didn't know this place was a quarantine zone. There has to be some way around it."

Ellie chimed in. "What if we sneak in?"

We both looked over at her. "How?"

Ellie pointed down at the plate in front of her. "We could go through the sewers?"

Joel and I eyed each other one more time. He nodded his head. "That'll work."

I went and tried to tear the plate from the ground, but my tired muscles couldn't handle it. Joel came over and nudged me out of the way. With barely any effort, he pried the plate right off and set it aside. He motioned towards the metal ladder leading down to the sewers. "After you." Ellie went first, then me, and finally Joel in the back, shutting the lid on his way down. The darkness quickly overcame us, forcing us all to turn on our lights. With no idea what was waiting inside of the sewers, we continued to climb down into the unknown blackness.


	10. Through the Sewers

**Hello, everyone!**

**Here's chapter ten!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Adam's POV**

As soon as we'd hit the bottom of the sewers, an overwhelming smell of garbage filled the air. There was an eerie feeling of despair and we couldn't see more than ten feet in front of us without our lights. We were also emerged in about two feet of freezing sewage water which absolutely reeked.

Ellie shivered as the cold chill of the water hit her. "I hope it doesn't get any deeper than this."

"Why? You don't wanna get your shirt wet?" I smiled at my own humor.

"No, I can't swim."

She jumped back and shielded her eyes as my light hit her. "You can't swim?"

Blushing a little, she shook her head. "I never learned. Now, can you get that damn light out of my face? You're blinding me."

"Oh, sorry." I'd forgotten my light was even on. We continued making our way through the thigh-deep water when Joel motioned for us to stop.

"What is it?" My voice echoed throughout the sewers.

"Shh."

We sat in silence for a few seconds. "I don't hear anything."

Suddenly, I heard a moan in the distance. "Oh shit."

Joel whispered to us. "Kill the lights." We saw a runner come around the corner and we all dropped lower into the water.

I slowly pulled out my knife and began to creep up behind the runner. I glanced back to see Ellie with her arms around herself, freezing in the ice cold water. She looked worried as hell for me.

I was within five steps of the runner when I stumbled over a brick under the water and dropped my knife. The soft plunk was loud enough to alert the runner. In a frantic pace he charged at me with rage in his eyes. With only a split second to think, I pulled out one of my guns and took aim.

I heard Joel yell at me. "No! Adam, don't-"

CRACK! The sound of the gunshot echoed all through the sewers and the dead body of the runner fell into the water with a big splash. I turned to see Joel with a horrified look on his face.

"What did I do?"

All at once I heard the cries of a bunch of runners and clickers. Joel huffed under his breathe. "Shit."

Ellie bolted from where she was standing. "Joel, what do we do?!"

He screamed from the top of his lungs. "Run!"

We clicked on our lights and sprinted as fast as we could, there was only one problem: we were all in thigh-deep water. If you've ever tried running through deep water like that, you know it isn't easy. Every step takes twice as much effort.

Ellie cried out from behind. "Joel, which way?"

He searched around desperately. "There," he yelled, pointing down the end of one of the long hallways. "There's a ladder down there. Come on!"

We darted as fast as we could towards the ladder but were stopped by a group of four runners. Joel was able to beat the crap out of one of them, while Ellie stabbed another one of them several times in the gut. I took the last two down with my revolvers.

Further down the hallway, there was a large figure approaching us. As it moved closer, a cold chill shot through my body.

Ellie cried out in fear. "Oh fuck!"

A bloater, standing at roughly seven feet, was making his way towards us. Joel screamed, "Go, go, go! Come on!"

Ellie yelled back, "What about the bloater?!"

"We ain't facing' that thing down here. Come on, we're almost to the ladder!"

We were within fifty feet of the ladder when the bloater threw one of his fungal plates at us. It hit one of the walls near me and exploded on contact.

"Fuck!" I screamed in pain as a huge mist of spores burned my right leg. I winced as I limped through the water in agony. Ellie noticed me struggling and ran back to help.

"Here, put your arm around me!"

I looked up into her green eyes, "Really?"

She stared right back. "Yes! I'm not leaving you here! Now, come on!"

I did as I was told, and she carried me as best she could through the freezing water. The bloater threw another fungal plate at us, this time hitting a wall close to Ellie. She turned into me and covered my body with hers as best she could. The spore mist created from the exploding plate just bounced right off of her body. More and more I began to accept the idea that she was immune.

Joel was already standing at the ladder when we got there. He motioned for us to go up. "Come on!"

Ellie went first, holding my arm to help me as best she could while I climbed closely behind her. Joel went last, making sure we made it to safety before he did. Ellie bashed open the sewer plate and we all climbed out in a panicked frenzy. Joel quickly slammed the plate shut and fell back with a loud sigh. "That was too close."

Ellie replied through her short breaths, "That was intense."

I limped over to a crate on the side of the road with Ellie helping me along the way. Even though I was in pain, I gotta admit it, I didn't mind putting my arm over her shoulder.

She sat me down on the crate as gently as she could. "Alright, let's see the damage." She squatted down to examine my burnt leg. "Man, those spores burnt right through your jeans." She looked up at me with her beautiful green eyes. "I have some gauze if you want me to fix this up for you."

I nodded, entranced by her eyes. I winced in pain as she rolled up my pant leg. Gently, she began to wrap my leg with gauze.

A few moments of silence overcame us. Feeling a bit shy, I decided to speak up. "Thank you, Ellie."

She looked up at me again, this time with the slightest hint of a smile. "For what?"

"Not leaving me back there."

We stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds more. She nodded her head. "Sure."

Finishing up with the gauze, she rolled my pant leg down and helped me to my feet. We went over to Joel, who'd been reloading his guns and checking out the area the whole time. Ellie scanned the perimeter. "What's the plan, Joel?"

Joel put his revolver in his back pocket before standing up. "Well, it looks like we made it into the quarantine zone. None of the military has noticed us yet. I say we blend in as best we can and search around for the car dealership. Adam, you feel good to walk?"

I nodded my head. "Yeah."

"Good. Any idea where the dealership is?"

I looked around a bit. "Uhh...I think so. As long as we blend in I think I can find it without any problems."

"Alright then. Let's get going."

With the game plan in our head, we casually walked through the dirty streets of Cheyenne.


End file.
